Server Status: Talking with Funcom's Jorgen Tharaldsen

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Our MMO columnist corresponds with Funcom's product director about the state of the MMO.

By Carolyn Koh

Jorgen Tharaldsen is the product director of Funcom, the company that brought Anarchy Online and Age of Conan to the MMO world. From a journalist's point of view, he was always a great developer to interview. Enthusiastic and lively discourse was always par for the day when he was asked to talk about his games. With this column however, I was able to delve a deeper into Jorgen's mind about the state of the MMO rather than talk about the games he has had a hand in. He does not disappoint.

Carolyn Koh: What would you say is the state of the MMO? Are we only at the tip of the iceberg where the development of this genre is concerned?

Jorgen Tharaldsen: I think that the MMO genre is in a somewhat fragile state, and the evolution of the market right now reminds me (somewhat) of what I saw back in 2001 to 2003, where many heavy projects led to very few winners and a lot of cancelled games When you then look at the games out there, I personally think that there are but two subscription games which have actually lived up to the retail sales potential since World of Warcraft launched: Warhammer Online and Age of Conan. When you think of all the games which have launched (and are about to launch in the next few years) that is not necessarily a good thing. If only a handful of Western companies succeed it means less diversity and that means new investments will primarily be made into proven companies, like Blizzard, Mythic, Sony Online Entertainment, CCP, or Funcom.

On the other hand, there is also a good evolution here with more and more titles, but many seem to spin around the same formula for better or worse. I am certain this genre we love will continue to evolve though, and the best games are yet to be played, but I don't necessarily envy the many start-ups who are trying to compete.

I also think that many "non-MMO" companies are about to / have already done / will soon start to experiment and implement many a thing which we have previously considered to be part of the MMO space. This is a very intriguing evolution, and in this part of things I think we will really see an explosion, with many really interesting approaches.

Carolyn Koh: Why is there this current fascination for other business models? Is the subscription model just not right for the Western market anymore? Why does the subscription model work for Funcom and its MMOs?

Jorgen Tharaldsen: As the MMO companies spend ever more on games, they are also looking for new ways to make money to ensure that they don't lose money. It's as simple as that.

At the same time there is a new movement of games coming, namely the free-to-play MMO games which costs less to make. They have (in most cases) also a lesser production value, and getting people into those universes is a lot easier by lowering the threshold (making them "free" versus a paid subscription). As people start to enjoy these games many eventually start to purchase items, and it seems likely that they spend more using a different model than paying a subscription. This evolution actually benefits the gamers, I think, as we can play for free for quite a while before making a decision on whether we want to proceed or not.

Funcom is not married to the subscription model in any way, shape, or form, and I think you can really see this on the way we have evolved the business models in Anarchy Online. Free-to-play for the original game, virtual items, in-game ads, and tiered paid subscription are all active models in Anarchy Online right now.

Carolyn Koh: What do you think constitutes a Triple-A game for an MMO?

Jorgen Tharaldsen: It depends a bit on the approach you take.

On a gameplay level I would say that WoW has changed things quite a bit; we are all compared to it, and with that come certain expectations on features, polish and quality. The challenging fact is that all new MMO games launching today are not compared to what WoW did at launch, but to what WoW is today, many years in. This means that to be perceived as Triple-A, you need to compete with WoW's level now, and there you have it. Otherwise you need to go your own way and find your own approach, which is what we did with some of the things in Conan, i.e. the combat system, stories and engine (and those things we did in a great way, I think). While it's not without risk and complexity to choose such an approach, I believe it gives you more freedom down the road.

There is also the business side of it, and seeing we run a company (and all MMO games are run by companies), I would say that what constitutes a financial success (which a company needs) is getting enough subscribers across, say, five years of live operations, and then relating that amount of paying players to the initial and ongoing investments you are making.

Still, at the end of the day, the most important thing is making fun games that players want and yearn for, and by doing that many of the other things also comes along at the same time... if you do it right.

Carolyn Koh: How has the MMO developed over the years? MMOs have traditionally been classified as "hard fun." Have they become easier to play? Are hardcore gamers no longer the norm among MMO gamers? Would you say the Funcom games are representative of this development?

Jorgen Tharaldsen: At the core of it all it hasn't developed that much over the years, and in many ways the games today are very similar to, say, Everquest, Ultima Online and Anarchy Online, or even MUDs before that.

Still, there are many changes of course, and the gamers today expect a new level of quality on both games and the services around them, and they get that, mostly. I do also think that the MMO games have improved their production value. How the content is presented, accessed and made, how the stories unfolds, how the music plays and so forth and so on, it all keeps evolving. Also the beginner experience and the general progression have improved, and in many ways they are also somewhat easier and more forgiving, at least to begin with.

And yes, I would definitively say that Funcom games are representatives for an evolution of the genre, and our company has a constant drive to make that happen. Regardless of whether you like Age of Conan or not, or Anarchy Online back in the day, or even our other games like Dreamfall and The Longest Journey, I think that everyone can see that we attempt to push the envelope. We may not always execute it as well as we should have, but we are definitively trying. And this difference is actually a great thing for us. I mean, going forward with Age of Conan (now that we are in live operations) we have a distinctively different and visionary game, running our own unique path. This puts us somewhat on the side of the clone wars which are happening left and right now, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

When it comes to the casual vs. hardcore I think that it's a somewhat harder line to draw. In my experience, MMOs very often turn casual gamers into hardcore gamers at some point during the game, at least for a certain time.

Carolyn Koh: How did you enjoy your years as a games journalist and how did it feel when you came on the "other side" to Funcom? Did it provide you with a good perspective of what the ordinary gamer wanted from games?

Jorgen Tharaldsen: Yeah, I guess I did, but in many ways I have always been on "other sides" as journalism was always a side-job, but I really loved writing about games. I mean, I got to play and travel, meeting my heroes and visiting my favorite gaming companies. I am definitively glad I am off the deadline hook now though, that was a nightmare when you have more than one job.

When it comes to the perspective I think that it boils down to passion; if you have that passion I think you instinctively understand what gamers want, at least to a certain degree. And if you really love games, and play them in a hardcore way, I can't think of something more rewarding than making them!